


Cheerleader of the Apocalypse

by esm3rald



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Badass Original Female Chracter, Canon-Typical Violence, Clementine - Walking Dead Video Game, Eventual Smut, F/M, Multi, Romance, Threesome - F/M/M, Walking Dead Video Game Season1 and Season2 referenced
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2018-11-16 04:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esm3rald/pseuds/esm3rald
Summary: Charlie is the stereotypical college cheerleader: a blonde bombshell with a perfect body and a perfect life. At least that's what she wants everyone to think. While watching an episode of 'The Walking Dead', she starts to wonder how it would be like to live in that world. When wishful thinking turns into reality though, she finds herself in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I know I shouldn't start another story but I recently became obsessed with 'The Walking Dead' and I just couldn't help myself.
> 
> Charlie, my OC, will wake up inside the world of the Walking Dead so I guess you can call it a SI fiction.
> 
> This story will become a threesome eventually – Daryl/OC/Rick, but it will not happen for a while, since Rick is married. Daryl doesn't have this problem, therefore things between Charlie and Daryl will move a lot quicker(not too quick though, otherwise where's the fun in that?).
> 
> This chapter is pretty short but it's only a prologue, the real chapters will be longer, promise!
> 
> BTW, Charlie is 21 in this story and she's at her second year of college. And yes, she's a cheerleader in college just because. I don't know how old Daryl and Rick are but in my story Daryl is 34 and Rick 36.
> 
> I know the age difference between her, Daryl and especially Rick, is kind of big but I don't really care, and anyway, nothing will actually happen between them for a while (a lot of slow-burning at first, which is the best sort of romance).
> 
> This story is going to follow the TV Show as closely as possible but it's possible some events may change due to the presence of my OC in the story.
> 
> I really hope you like it! Read and review, it always makes an author happy!
> 
> Btw, I imagine Charlie with Amber Heard's face (as she looks like in 'Drive Angry', style included) but with a curvier body (like Sophie Mudd) and Evan as Jack Falahee aka Connor Walsh from 'How to Get Away with Murder'.
> 
> Also, the story will follow canon up to season6 but after that, it'll be AU. I think the show went downhill from the moment Negan appeared in the story but that's just my opinion. Anyway, my story, my choice. I'm sorry if you were interested in all the Negan storyline but I'm not. That doesn't mean that we won't see the other communities like Hilltop or the Kingdom appear in the story though. But it's a long way from there so I guess it doesn't matter at the moment.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead, only Charlie, nor do I make money by writing this story!

****

**Prologue**

"So, what do you think?"

Evan – her best friend that she had met at Cornell and the only one she had told about her past – had finally convinced her to give 'The Walking Dead' a try and she had to admit it was pretty good, though zombies weren't exactly her genre.

"It's cool. Though, I have to say, the most interesting thing about this TV show are his male characters."

"Yeah, I know. Rick and Daryl are really hot and totally badass. Can you imagine, actually meeting them?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow in disbelief "And face the zombie apocalypse? No thanks."

"Oh, come on, you, more than anyone, would be able to survive the zombie apocalypse. You're like a hybrid of a ninja and a female version of Daryl."

"Really?" Charlie asked with a laugh.

"Well, yeah. Come on, you are like a perfect shot with a gun and you did what? 8 years of martial arts? And you can throw knives like normal people throw darts. And let's not forget the fact that you can hunt and use a bow too."

Charlie smiled a little. "Yeah, okay but that doesn't mean that I would be able to face off against zombies. I don't even know how to kill them."

"Well, that's easy. You have to hit the brain. So like, a shot to the head or through stabbing with a knife or whatever sharp thing you have at hand. Then you have to remember that walkers are attracted to noise and light, so using a gun against one would only attract more so it's better to use a crossbow, bow or a knife because they're silent. Oh, and if you enter somewhere remember to 'ring the dinner bell', meaning that you have to knock on the door first so you can see if there's a walker inside because it would be attracted to that noise and come to the door."

"Right. Other useful tips in case I end up in the 'Walking Dead'?" She said with a snort.

"Well, the group for almost all of season1 is at a quarry near Atlanta, so I'll advise you to go there and stick with Rick's group. Otherwise what would be the point of being in the 'Walking Dead' if you can't stay with them?"

Charlie laughed and continued watching the episode when Daryl, Rick and some others went to Atlanta to find Merle, Daryl's brother.

"Isn't it a bit harsh, leaving him on the roof like that?" Charlie asked referring to Merle.

"Well yeah, but it's important to the story. Daryl is able to find himself once out of Merle's influence. That's how he's able to bond with the group – especially Rick and Carol - and show everyone that he's actually a really good person. If Merle had still been in the story, Daryl would have continued to be in his shadow. And anyway, Merle will be back so…"

Charlie nodded in understanding before Evan continued "Therefore, if you end up in the story, don't free him!That's how the story is supposed to go!" He said with fake sternness.

Charlie laughed "All right, all right!"

Once at home, she stared at the ceiling and thought about what it would be like to be in the 'Walking Dead' as Evan had said. Her, a blonde, college cheerleader, in the zombie apocalypse? It was laughable. And yet, she was not a normal cheerleader, or a normal student for that matter. Like Evan had said she had some skills that would definitely be useful in the zombie apocalypse. Of course, if she wanted to survive, she would need her bow, her gun and her knives; and, of course, a backpack with clothes, a sleeping bag and a tent.

The hospital where Rick first woke up in would be a good place to start. There were medicines and food there and dead soldiers with guns just ready for the taking. And there was also the fact that it was pretty deserted, so she would not be in danger of waking up with a zombie munching on her face.

And of course, waking up in the same place as Rick would be a certain way to meet him and then Daryl eventually. And meeting them…that would definitely be worth it. She wondered what would it be like, meeting them in person. She laughed at her silliness and went to sleep, having no idea that her wishful thoughts were about to be turned into reality.


	2. Interlude - Waking Up to a Nightmare

** **

** Interlude – Waking Up To A Nightmare**

Waking up in a strange room and having no idea how she got there was the stuff of her nightmares.

Fortunately she was still dressed. She looked at the white room around her, at the open door that led to a bathroom, at the other closed door and at the bed she was lying on and shook her head confused.

"How the hell did I get here?" She mumbled to herself. She was pretty sure she had been in her room last night and that she had gotten to bed like usual. She remembered that she spent the evening watching 'The Walking Dead' with Evan and then she had returned home. So why was she here now? In what appeared to be a hospital room, a hospital room whose door was blocked by a bedside table in front of it.

On the bedside table was her gun - a glock 19 - inside its holster, the hunting knife that her uncle had given to her as a gift the first time he brought her hunting and her set of kunai knives still inside their sheath. The objects near them she recognized immediately, though she knew they didn't belong to her. There was a black leather steampunk belt with a thigh holster attached, perfect for her throwing knives, plus two gun garters holsters, perfect for her gun and knives.

On the table's right, a big hunting backpack was standing against the wall, her compound bow and quiver next to it and complete with a bow hook sling.

A terrible feeling started to creep inside her when she remembered her thoughts before falling asleep last night.

She was thinking about living in 'The Walking Dead' world and specifically that, if she had to wake up there, the best place would be the hospital where Rick was in the first episode. Then she had thought about the fact that she needed to be armed to survive and she had made a mental list of what she would have needed. And there they were, all the things she had thought about, all in one place, all inside a hospital room with her inside.

She shook her head and took a deep breath before getting up from the bed. Only one way to find out for sure.

She put the garters holsters in her backpack and then the backpack on her shoulders, bow attached to her hip thanks to her new bow hook sling. She wore the leather belt and she attached her gun to it, to her right, while the hunting knife went to her left. She then attached the throwing knives to the leg holster and she was ready.

After a last fortifying breath, she moved the bedside table from in front of the door and left the room. The corridor was deserted, the lights going on and off intermittently. The thing that scared her the most though, was the gurney right in front of a familiar door. She walked cautiously towards it and moved it out of the way, needing to know if there was really Rick Grimes inside it, still in a coma, oblivious to what was going on around him.

"This is crazy! I'm not going to find Rick Grimes there. Of course not." No matter how many times she repeated that to herself though, she wasn't able to convince herself.

Finally inside the room, her worst fears were realized. There was a very familiar man lying on the bed, a VI attached to his arm, eyes closed, obviously still in a coma.

"Oh God! Oh God! This can't be happening!" Her breath started to come out in short pants, faster and faster and she knew she was about to have a panic attack. She run out the door and returned to the corridor, continuing to run without knowing where she was going until she came face to face with the familiar metallic doors, the moaning coming from it and the letters painted on them very telling on what was trapped just on the other side of them. 'Don't Open, Dead Inside'.

She felt like she couldn't breath, a terrified scream trapped inside her throat but knowing that screaming was ill advised right now, she kept it in. It was true that she wanted to meet him but not like this, not in this crazy world where you could die horribly at any moment. She was just messing around, it was all wishful thinking, she didn't really want this.

She tried to calm herself down, sliding down the wall and hugging her knees to her chest, trying to breath normally again.

"Okay, think. What am I supposed to do now? What would Evan say right now?" She couldn't put two rational thoughts together in the state she was in but she needed to. Her life was at stake here. "I'm not going to die here. Okay? I'm not. So, what am I going to do? I'm stuck here, with apparently no way back home. So, think! I've got weapons so that's good. But I could need more, you always could use some more. Maybe another gun, and bullets, lots of bullets. I would need food, medicines....And I still have to check what's inside the bag. So, let's start with that."

The bag had a lot of her clothes inside - underwear included, fortunately - plus a sleeping bag and a tent.

Nothing else. "Yeah, definitely food, water and medicines. And soap, shampoo, tampons too, stuff like that. Okay, so, first I must find the kitchen. It's a hospital, I'm sure there will be food somewhere." She felt slightly calmer now that she had a plan but she was still shaking.

"Stop shaking!" She told herself. "I would need perfect aim if I find those dead biters walking around. Okay, Evan said a shot to the head, that's the way to kill them!"

She wondered for a second if she would ever see Evan and her uncle again but she tried not to think about it too much, now wasn't the time. It was better anyway that they weren't here with her. She wanted them as far from where she was as possible. It was too dangerous. Though her uncle would know what to do in that situation.

"Evan also said, stick with the group. So, Rick is here. I will have to check on him periodically and follow him as soon as he wakes up. That's my best bet. But right now, I have to find as many things as I can."

Finding the kitchen wasn't easy, fortunately the hospital appeared to be completely deserted so she was safe for the time being.

She went up a flight of stairs and heard the groaning and moaning coming to her left, then came the smell. It was almost unbearable and her eyes watered for a second but she needed to focus. She prepared the arrow and, as soon as she had the thing in her line of sight she shot. And missed. The arrow got stuck in its chest and the thing continued walking, coming closer and closer.

"Come on!" She took immediately another arrow, tried to steady her hands while holding the bow and took a deep breath. She relaxed with every breath and finally shot the thing straight in the head. The biter fell on the ground, really dead this time. "Yes! Take that walker!" She exclaimed with a relieved laugh before retrieving the two arrows she had used and cleaning them on the dead's clothes.

She encountered no more walkers on her way to the kitchen and finally found the storage room she was looking for. It was still full of canned food and bottles of water so she took everything she could put her fingers on and put them inside her bag. Oil, salt and spices were next and then other food that was easy to cook with a bit of water and a flame. She also stole some cutlery and a small pot from the kitchen and put that too inside her bag.

"Okay, now medicines! It's a hospital, it shouldn't be too difficult!" After a long hour of searching around, she finally found another storage room, this one full to the brim with medicines. There were antibiotics, painkillers, antipyretics, disinfectant, cotton, gauzes, medicines she didn't know the use for but took anyway.

She took a bit of everything because you never knew what you were going to need.

The rest of the day she spent going from room to room, trying to find as many things as she could. The patients had left the most random things in their rooms, clothes and soaps, tampons, brush, toothbrush (fortunately one still untouched), toothpaste, books, a mp3 player that worked with AAA batteries instead of electrical power, a deck of cards and some other board games like chess and checkers. She took those too.

While walking around, she stumbled upon a vending machine. She wasn't very keen on making noise but there was still a lot of stuff inside that she planned on taking, so, after searching for the fire axe that she knew must be there, she used it to break the glass, one hit after another. She looked around herself in fear, waiting with bated breath for more walkers to appear but there was nothing. She grinned a little before putting various bags of chips, chocolate and granola bars inside her bag.

Sometimes she would come across the body of someone who had a shot to the head, mostly civilians but some soldiers too. She didn't know if they had been killed or they had killed themselves and really preferred not to think too much about it. She hated the idea of checking their bodies but soldiers meant weapons and she needed all the weapons she could get. She found another small gun - a glock 26 - that she strapped to her ankle inside her right boot and a large pocketknife that she strapped to her left ankle. She took two more hand guns with silencers – for backup -, and took the magazines out of the other guns she found, deciding to leave the other weapons there since bringing all those guns in her bag would only make her bag too heavy and wouldn't be really useful in the long run. She had four guns and bullets to spare, that was enough for now.

The days passed slowly and boringly, the only bright spot, if one could call it that, was the wandering biter that she sometimes encountered while still visiting the various rooms in the hospital. She had never missed a shot since that first day and the biters were so few and far between that she had almost gotten used to them. If one could really get used to dead people walking and trying to eat you, that's it.

It was two weeks since she had found herself in that hospital that something finally changed. Rick had woken up.


	3. Chapter 1 - Meeting Rick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter one, following the events of the pilot episode. Hope you like it!

** **

** Chapter 1 **

** Meeting Rick **

Charlie left her room that morning, backpack on her shoulders and bow at the hip and cursed when she realized that the room in front of her was open. The gurney that had been put there to keep the door closed had been moved to the side and the room itself was empty. That only meant one thing. Rick Grimes was awake.

She started to search desperately for him, not wanting to lose him and consequently the only familiar thing in this unfamiliar, scary world.

She breathed in relief when once outside, she found him stumbling among the corpses laid out on the ground and covered in white sheets.

"Grimes!" She called. "Rick Grimes! Wait!"

Rick turned around, squinting his eyes to focus on the figure of the girl walking towards him. The mass of long, blonde hair was the first thing he noticed, outlying her face and waist like a halo. The closer she came to him, the more he could see of her features. She was young, closer to twenty than twenty-five, and, objectively, very attractive, with long legs and a thin but curvy body. She was probably an athlete of some sort, or at least one who did physical exercise regularly.

The way she was dressed struck him as odd. Not what she was wearing since she had a normal red top and jeans on. No, it was the weapons she was carrying and the big backpack on her shoulders that was strange. He noticed the gun and knife strapped to her belt and the bow she was holding and frowned in confusion, wandering if she had a license for the gun and why she was running around with so many weapons in the first place. Once she reached his side, her light green eyes fixed on his face and she smiled at him in relief.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" He asked her, not unkindly.

She shook her head, maybe a little embarrassed. "No, no. I just know your name because it was written on the medical chart at the footboard of your bed. I'm Charlie, by the way." She said, extending her hand towards him. "Well, Charlotte, really but I prefer Charlie." She rumbled nervously.

Rick smiled at her and shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Were you a nurse or a patient too? Do you know what happened to the hospital? Why it's deserted and there are bodies everywhere."

Charlie grimaced. "Hum...no, I'm not a nurse nor was I a patient. I'm sorry to tell you this but you slept through the end of the world."

Rick looked at her in disbelief, his blue eyes staring at her intently. "What? Is this a joke?"

Charlie laughed nervously. "I wish. No, unfortunately the apocalypse happened, in the form of dead people waking up and eating the living. You know, like zombies, only they eat flesh instead of just brains. I call them biters but you can call them however you want."

Rick closed his eyes for a second, feeling out of sort, before opening them once again with a look of determination. "I...I don't have time to think about this. I need to find my family." He said, his voice expressing all the disbelief he was feeling.

Charlie smiled at him in understanding. "It's okay if you don't believe me but I'm coming with you. I don't want to sound intrusive or whatever but you're extremely vulnerable right now. You have no idea what's going on and without a weapon and not knowing how to kill them, you're in real danger. It's better this way, trust me."

Rick looked at her, her serious expression convening the truth in her words and he nodded. He wasn't sure he believed her but, at the same time, he didn't not believe her. He nodded then once and turned around, not protesting. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and followed him.

Charlie followed Rick up an embankment with a helicopter, military tents and vehicles all set up. The place had been destroyed and abandoned.

They walked until they reached the street where Rick and his family used to live. Rick went to take the bike parked against a wall but Charlie stopped him. There was a walker there, sleeping for now, and missing her legs.

"Wait! It may not seem like much at the moment but a bite or a scratch can turn you into one of them." "Are you sure she's not just a rotting corpse?"

"She is a rotting corpse but she's awake." She hit the corpse with her boot and the thing started moving. Rick took a few steps back, freaked out. "See? Better take care of it just in case."

"How do you kill them then?"

"You have to hit the brains. Don't know why, maybe it's because it's what keeps them up and running." Charlie explained before taking the knife hidden in her left boot. She stabbed the walker in the temple, one firm cut. The biter stopped moving. "Like this, see?"

Rick nodded, but he seemed still not completely present. "Come on, let's go."

Rick started to walk again, Charlie at his side.

As soon as the house was in sight, Rick started running. Charlie kept walking calmly, not entering, just making sure he would not disappear and leave her there alone. It was such a relief, talking to someone after two weeks completely alone. Even if that someone was a man who had spent weeks in a coma and had no idea what was going on.

Sure, while watching the first few episodes of 'The Walking Dead' with her best friend, she had fantasized about meeting him and sure, he was really hot in person, even wearing that hospital gown.

But all of that didn't matter now, it was all silly thoughts from a girl whose only concerns from a long time had been classes, parties, cheerleading and boys interested in her (sometimes too interested).

It was one thing to comment about what was happening in a TV show from the comfort of her dormitory, one another was to actually live in it, especially if said TV show was about zombies.

She had tried to be strong in those two weeks alone and she had done pretty well for herself, better than most would have done probably, but being here now, with him, another actual human being, a kind, good human being, it made her realize how lonely she had felt, how desperately she needed the company of another person. And she knew from the TV show that Rick Grimes was a good ally to have in a situation like this. She wasn't glad that she had ended up here, in this dangerous, post-apocalyptic world but she was glad that, at least, she had thought of the hospital as the place to end up, with Rick.

A good fifteen minutes later he was leaving the house, a look of desperation on his face and no Lori and Carl with him. Charlie wished she could tell him that he would see his family soon but she wouldn't know how to explain how she knew that without sounding crazy.

She reached his side instead and patted his shoulder. "Hey, you'll find them, okay? I know you will," her tone reassuring instead of certain.

Rick nodded at her, a grateful smile on his face though he didn't seem completely convinced. He turned his head and blinked at the figure approaching, the shuffling and moaning of the dead making themselves known. "Is that one of them?"

Charlie nodded, ready to take it out with her bow but in that moment someone coming from behind her hit Rick in the head with a shovel. Charlie cursed, having completely forgotten about Morgan and Duane. The man fell and Charlie screamed at Duane to stop.

"Stop! What are you doing? He's a man, not a biter!" She then knelt at Rick's side and asked him "Rick, are you okay?" Rick didn't answer her, his attention focused on Duane. "Carl! I found you!" he said while talking to Duane.

The boy turned her head then to look at her, then a Rick again, a frown on his face. "Sorry, I thought...Dad! Dad, come! There are people here!"

A man that Charlie knew to be Morgan made their way towards them, not before shooting at the biter still walking in their direction.

"What did you do Duane!" Morgan said, once he noticed Rick on the floor, not passed out yet but still looking disoriented around him.

"I thought he was one of them."

"Well, he's not. Neither of us is." Charlie interjected. "I'm Charlie, by the way."

"Morgan, and this is my son Duane." Then turning towards Rick and noticing the bandage on his chest, he asked. "Hey, mister! What's that bandage for?"

"He was shot. He's not bitten." Charlie answered for him but Morgan ignored her. Rick looked at the man, confused. "What?"

Morgan pointed the gun at him. "What kind of wound? You answer me, damn you! What's your wound? You tell me! Or I will kill you."

Charlie watched Rick passing out and she cursed. "Damn it! Rick, Rick, wake up!"

He wasn't waking up. Morgan proposed to bring him to the house they were staying in. Charlie agreed and helped Morgan moving Rick's body from the ground and all the way to the house next door to Rick's. Morgan decided to tie him up to the bed just in case even if Charlie said once again that he wasn't bitten.

When Rick woke up an hour later, he saw Duane holding a baseball bat and Charlie sitting on the bed next to him. Charlie smiled at him and Rick returned the gesture, glad to see a familiar face. "Nice to see you awake Rick!"

Morgan was on the other side of the bed, standing. "Got that bandage changed out. It was pretty rank. What was? The wound?"

"Gun shot." Rick explained, patiently.

"Gun shot? What else? Anything?"

"I ain't bit if that's what you're askin'. I just learned of all of this today, okay?"

"What? How is it possible? Were you asleep while the world was ending?" Charlie snorted at Morgan's words. "As a matter of fact, I was. I was in a coma." Rick answered.

"Yeah, well..." Morgan pulled out a knife and showed it to him. "Take a moment, eh? Look how sharp it is. You try anything... I will kill you with it, and don't you think I won't." Charlie watched, not really worried that Morgan would hurt Rick. Rick stayed still and Morgan cut him free.

"Come on up when you're able." Morgan said at last. "Come on Duane." And with that Morgan and his son left the room.

"So, what a day, hum?" Charlie asked with a smile.

Rick laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. So, what were you doing at the hospital? Are you alone? Where's your family? You can't be older than twenty-five if that."

"Wow, one question at a time. Well, first of all, I'm almost twenty-one. My parents are dead." She lied, not wanting to explain the real story just yet.

"I live with my uncle, or I used to, at least. I don't know where he is though." At that point, Charlie decided to get a little creative to explain why she was alone since she couldn't explain that she had woken up out of the blue in the same hospital as Rick. "We got separated. I don't know if he's dead or alive. He's a survivor though, so I think he's still alive. Anyway, I lived in a town not far from here. When we found out what was going on, we decided to go to Atlanta because there's supposed to be a refugee camp or something there, it's supposed to be safe. We got separated along the way though, a horde of those things coming at us. I ended up here, and I figured the hospital was a good place to hide. It seemed pretty deserted and there was food and medicines there, and water and beds so...I stayed there two weeks before you woke up. I would have gone to Atlanta to find my uncle but, truth to be told, I'm kind of scared, being alone out there."

"That's understandable." Rick smiled at her before asking "That bow that you have? Was it your uncle that taught ya?"

Charlie smiled, missing her uncle very much. "Kind of. My uncle was really into hunting and when I was like 11 or something, I begged him to bring me with him. He was reluctant at first but he didn't say no either. Instead, he said, you wanna come hunting with me? Choose a weapon and learn how to use it, then we'll talk.

“I don't think he really believed I would do it but I was very stubborn when I put my mind into it. My uncle used rifles mostly but his favorite weapon was a spear. He was really good with it, like you couldn't believe it. I chose a bow instead, first because for my eleven-year-old body a rifle was too heavy and second because there was no way that my uncle would let me use one. A crossbow was too heavy too and a spear was just too big and it took years for my uncle to learn how to use it and I didn't have that much time. So, I decided on the bow because at school there was this archery team and I could learn from them first.

“I practiced every day for hours after school and finally, after a year or so I finally learnt enough to convince my uncle to bring me with him. I think my uncle thought I had forgotten or something but when he realized what I had done, he didn't go back on his promise. He brought me with him instead. He taught me how to shoot with a gun too. Since I was twelve, once a week we would go to the shooting range and then every weekend we would go hunting. If there's one person who would survive in this world, it's him."

Rick looked at her with compassion before explaining himself. "I'm a deputy sheriff. Or I was, at least. I got shot on duty. Armed robbers trying to flee the scene. We stopped them, my colleagues and I, on the road, but I got shot. I woke up today having no idea where my family is. Though, I hope they're with my friend Shane, I know he would keep them safe."

"Your family, what are their names?" Charlie asked, already knowing the answer. "My wife's name is Lori and I have a son, Carl. He's ten, almost eleven now."

Their conservation was interrupted by Duane, saying that dinner was ready. Rick got up from the bed with Charlie's help and together they made their way to the living room. Once the four of them were seated around the table Rick looked around himself in recognition. "This place... It's Fred and Cindy Drake's."

Morgan shrugged. "Never met them."

"I've been here. This is their place."

"It was empty when we got here." Rick got up from the table and went to open the blinds. "Don't do that. They'll see the light." Morgan said, stopping him.

Rick returned to the table. "There's more of them out there than usual. I never should have fired that gun today. The sound draws them, now they're all over the street. Stupid... using a gun... It all happened so fast... I didn't think."

"It's okay. We're safe here. Don't beat yourself up." Charlie smiled at him. Morgan served all of them soup before Duane said "Daddy... Blessing..."

"Yeah. " Morgan answered. All four of them held hands. Charlie wasn't exactly a religious person but she didn't want to be rude.

"Father, we thank thee for this food..." Morgan said "Thy blessings... We ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen."

"Amen." Duane said before they started to eat.

"Hey, mister, do you even know what is going on?" Morgan asked Rick.

Rick sighed. "I woke up today. In a hospital. Met Charlie. She explained some things to me but I'm still not sure I believe it, even after seeing it with my own eyes."

Morgan nodded. "Charlie explained to you about the dead people, right? The walkers? Like the one I shot today?" Rick nodded. "He would have ripped into you otherwise. Try to eat you, take some flesh at least."

"They're out there now, in the street?"

"Yeah. They're even more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air or... Hell, maybe it's just me firing up that gun today. But we'll be fine long as we stay quiet. Probably wander off by morning. Well, listen... One thing I do know... Don't you get bit! We saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of. Bites kill you. The fever... burns you out. But then after a while... You come back."

"Seen it happen..." Duane said, a look of deep pain in his eyes. The conversation stopped after that and they continued eating in silence.

After supper, Duane was sleeping next to his father. Rick was standing near the window while Charlie sat on the floor with her back against the wall.

"Carl... He your son?" Morgan asked Rick.

Rick nodded. "He's a little younger than your boy."

"And he's with his mother?"

"I hope so." Rick said with a sigh.

"What about you? Got people you're looking for?" Morgan asked her then.

Charlie shrugged. "Just my uncle and my best friend Evan. I hope they're somewhere safe." Charlie actually hoped that the both of them were far away from this fictional world she landed in but she couldn't tell them that.

"Dad?" Duane called out and the three of them turned around at the same time to look at him.

"Yeah?" Morgan asked.

"Did you ask him?"

"Your gun shot..." Morgan said, turning to Rick. "We got a little bet going. My boy says you're a... bank robber ..."

Rick laughed. "Yeah... That's me. Deadly as Dillinger. Kapow. Sheriff's deputy."

"Aha." Morgan said with a nod.

A car alarm outside started going off. Duane looked scared at that and Morgan tried to calm him down.

"Hey, it's ok, daddy's here. It's nothing. One of them must've bumped a car..."

"You sure?" Rick asked, looking out the window through a slot between two beams.

"Happened once before." Morgan explained. "Went off a few minutes. Get the light, Duane."

They dimmed the lights and looked outside. There were several of them walking around.

"It's the blue one, down the street." Morgan continued. "Same one as last time. I think we're ok."

"That noise... Will it bring more of them?" Rick asked.

Morgan nodded. "Nothing to do about it now. Just have to wait 'em out till morning."

"Noise and lights attract them." Charlie explained further. "That's why it's best not to use guns to kill them unless there's no other choice."

Rick nodded at her.

Duane looked outside and saw a female walking close to the house.

"She's here." He said in a scared voice. Charlie looked through the window too and knew in that moment that it was his mother, the one he had seen turn.

"Don't look." Morgan said. "Get away from the windows." Duane didn't move away. "I said go! Come on!" Duane started to cry and Morgan comforted him. "Come on, quiet. Shh, shh..."

Rick walked towards the door and looked out the peephole. There was a walker outside, she looked at the door in confusion and seemed to be staring right at Rick. She then started to turn the doorknob left and right. Luckily the door was locked.

"It's ok, here. Cry into the pillow." Morgan said, after bringing Duane back to bed. Rick sat next to Morgan then and Charlie returned to her place against the wall.

"She, uh... She died in the other room, on that bed..." Morgan explained to the two of them. "Nothin' I can do about it here... That fever, man... Her skin gave off heat like a furnace... Should have put her down, I should have put her down, I know that, but... You know what... I just didn't have it in me... She's the mother of my child."

The three of them looked at the doorknob continuing to turn left and right.

The next morning Charlie watched amused as Morgan tried to teach Rick how to kill walkers. Rick had a bat in his hands and looked ready for battle.

One of the walkers was sitting up against the fence post but got up as soon as it saw them and started walking towards them. Morgan, Charlie and Duane stayed behind while Rick raised the bat, ready to hit it. Rick smashed it in the head several times until he fell to the ground, losing his balance. Charlie grimaced at the scene.

"You alright?" Morgan helped Rick get up.

"Need a moment." Rick replied, gasping for breath.

"Men." She said with a teasing smirk. "Why use a knife when you can simply smash its head with a bat?"

Rick looked at her with a grin, though he seemed a little shaken.

They entered Rick's house then. Charlie looked around at the pristine house, looking deserted but untouched.

"They're alive." Rick said with conviction, once they were standing in what was once the living room. "My wife and son. At least they were when they left."

"How can you know?" Morgan asked. "By the look of this place..."

"I found empty drawers in the bedroom." Rick explained. "They packed some clothes. Not a lot. But enough to travel."

"You know anybody could've broken in here and stolen clothes, right?" Morgan asked, skeptical.

"You see the framed photos on the walls?" Rick asked rhetorically. "Neither do I. Some random thief took those too, you think? My photo albums, family pictures, all gone."

Morgan smiled sadly. "Photo albums... My wife... Same thing... Here I am, packing survival gear, she's grabbing photo albums..."

"They're in Atlanta, I'll bet." Duane interjected.

"That's right." Morgan added. "There should be a refugee settle. Huge, when they said it, before the broadcast stopped. Military protection, food, shelter... They told people to go there. Said to be safest."

"Plus they got that disease place." Duane said.

"Yeah, the CDC." Charlie said.

"Center for Disease Control." Morgan added. "Said they were working on how to solve this thing."

"Let's hope they actually succeed." Charlie said, wondering if she would ever be able to see her old world again.

Rick grabbed a set of car keys and together they left the house. After driving for a few minutes, they reached the sheriff station.

They all entered the sheriff's office and headed towards the locker rooms. The whole place was deserted. Not even a walker in sight.

Rick turned on the shower and smiled when the water started to fall. Morgan looked surprised. "Gas and light have been down for maybe a month." He said in a questioning tone.

Rick smiled. "Station got its own propane system. Pilot's still on."

"This means hot water right?" Charlie asked excited.

Rick nodded. "You can go first if you want." He said to Charlie.

Charlie flashed a brilliant smile at him. "Oh, yes, thank you!"

As soon as Charlie felt the hot water on her skin and hair, she let out a moan. It had been so long since she had a hot shower. At the hospital the shower still worked but the water was cold.

She washed her hair thoroughly, using the shampoo and hair conditioner that she had found at the hospital. After she had washed her body too, she rinsed off and got dressed, choosing a pair of black jeans and a green tanktop. She put her belt on again and left the showers, allowing the three males waiting outside to wash too.

After brushing her hair, she tried to dry them with a towel as best she could, bemoaning the absence of a hairdryer.

Once all four of them were done with their showers, they went to the gun room, Rick having changed into his deputy sheriff's uniform.

"Nice hat!" She said to him with a teasing grin.

Rick touched his hat with his index finger like in greeting and smiled at her.

They looked around themselves then and Rick sighed. "A lot of it's gone missing."

"Better than nothing." Charlie said with a smile. Rick went to hand her a gun but she shook her head. "I got two guns in my back, plus two on me and lots of bullets. I'm fine."

"Dad, can I learn to shoot? I'm old enough." Duane asked.

"Hell yes you're going to learn. We gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon." Morgan replied.

"That's right. It's not a toy. You pull the trigger, you have to mean it. Always remember that, Duane." Rick added then.

"Yes, sir." Duane replied seriously. Charlie smiled at him.

Rick handed Morgan a rifle. "Take that one. Nothing fancy. Scope's accurate."

Rick filled a bag with guns, rifles and bullets before they left the station. They reached the police car.

"Conserve your ammo." Rick warned. "Goes faster than you think. Especially at target practice."

Morgan gave Duane the rifle to put in the car before turning to her and Rick.

"You sure you won't come along?" Rick asked.

Morgan shook his head. "A few more days... By the end, Duane will know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty."

Rick nodded, accepting his decision before giving Morgan a walkie-talkie. "You got one better. I'll turn mine on, a few minutes every day at dawn. You get up there, that's how you find us."

"You think they're there?" Morgan asked the both of them.

Charlie shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Rick nodded. "Can't afford not to. Not anymore."

Morgan nodded. "Look, just one thing. They may not seem like much one at a time... but in a group all round up and hungry... May you watch your asses."

Rick nodded, taking the warning seriously. "You too."

"We'll be careful." Charlie added. "You do the same, though, okay?"

"You're good people." Morgan said with a smile. "I hope you'll find your wife and son, Rick. And you, your uncle and best friend, Charlie."

Charlie nodded in thanks.

"Be seeing you, Duane. Take care of your old man." Rick said then once Duane had reached their side.

"Yes, sir." Duane said seriously.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." Charlie added. "And that when we do, you'll know how to use a gun like a pro, Duane."

Duane smiled at her.

Before they could leave, Morgan turned around at the sound of moaning coming from behind a wire fence. The three of them came closer and Rick recognized the walker dressed in an officer uniform.

"Leon Basset? Didn't think much of him. Careless and dumb, but... can't leave him like this." Rick was about to use his gun but Charlie stopped him with a hand on the arm he was holding the gun with.

"I'll do it. Not need to waste bullets." Rick nodded at her, marveling at the fact that she had taken so well to this new world. He didn't know a lot of people so young that could defend themselves so well, especially against dead people hell bent on eating them. He was glad she was at his side.

Charlie, oblivious to Rick's thoughts, took her hunting knife from its sheath and, as soon as the walker was close enough, she stabbed him in the eye through the fence.

She watched the body fall to the floor and wondered at the fact that she had already gotten used to the walkers being a part of her life now. Maybe it was better this way though, it would help her keep her alive.

She turned towards Rick and said with a smile "Come on, Officer Friendly, time to go!"

After that Charlie and Rick said goodbye to Morgan and Duane one more time and separated. Charlie got in the sheriff's car with Rick while Morgan and Duane returned home.

More than an hour later, they were driving towards Atlanta, Charlie becoming more and nervous the closer they got to the city. She knew what was coming but, at the same time, she was afraid that with her there something would go wrong and that they would die in Atlanta without actually reaching the rest of the group. Or maybe she would die and Rick would survive. After all, she wasn't supposed to be there.

Charlie shook her head and repeated to herself in her head: "I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die. Not today."

"You okay?" Rick asked, noticing her agitation.

"Yeah." Charlie smiled at him. "Just anxious about what we're going to find once in Atlanta."

Rick nodded in understanding. "I would tell you not to worry but we don't actually know what we'll find once there so..."

Charlie nodded and smiled at him "I appreciate the sentiment all the same".

Rick picked up the hand-radio then and started broadcasting a message: "Broadcasting on emergency channel. We'll be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody reads, please respond." He waited for a few seconds but nobody answered.

"Hello. Hello. Can anybody hear my voice? Anybody out there?" He tried again and still nothing. "Anybody hears me, please respond. Hello, can you hear my voice?"

Charlie looked at Rick and shook her head. She knew there were people on the other line, listening and trying to answer but they couldn't hear them.

Half an hour later they were almost out of gas. They had stopped on the way when they had found a gas station but it was empty. No gas to be found, only walkers. She had shot a little girl that had been turned into a walker with an arrow. When she thought she was almost getting used to the walkers and this life she was now in, something happened that made her rethink this idea. This world was harsh and dangerous and not only because of the walkers.

When the car finally stopped because it had ran out of gas, Rick pulled a photograph of his family off of the window, looking at it for a second before showing it to Charlie.

"That's them." He simply said.

Charlie smiled. "Your wife is very pretty. And your son is really cute. He looks a lot like you." Rick smiled at her but he looked sad.

"Hey, you'll find them, Rick, okay? I know you will."

Rick nodded, grateful once again for her presence. He got out of the car then, hoping to find gas somewhere around. Charlie followed suit, backpack on her shoulders and compound bow at her side.

"What do you have inside that enormous thing?" Rick asked teasingly, once again noticing the big backpack that Charlie had brought with her.

Charlie laughed before answering. "Clothes, food, water, medicines, a tent, a sleeping bag, two guns plus bullets, soap and other stuff that I found around that I thought could be useful."

Rick looked at her impressed. "Wow, you came prepared."

Charlie shrugged her shoulders. "I raided the hospital. Figured if Atlanta was not like I was expecting, I still had enough stuff to survive on my own."

"And you're very good at it, especially since you're so young." Rick said, meaning every word.

"Like I said, my uncle taught me."

"And what a good job he did." Rick said before adding. "I'm sure you'll find him too."

Charlie smiled at him sadly. "Part of me wants to find him, of course. The other just wishes he's somewhere safe, even if that place is far away from me. Same with my best friend."

Rick nodded, understanding perfectly and yet unable to withstand the thought of not knowing where his family was, if they were okay.

After that, the two continued to walk in silence. A little while later they came upon a house. It looked untouched from the outside but Charlie knew what was inside and decided to stay where she was.

Rick went ahead of her, calling out: "Hello? Police officer out here. Can I borrow some gas? Hello? Hello? Anybody home?"

When he received no answer, he finally looked inside through a window and saw two dead bodies with flies buzzing around them. There was also a message on the wall written in blood that said: "God Forgive Us." They had obviously killed themselves.

Rick walked away from the house, saddened at the idea of two people preferring suicide to live in this new world.

"Anything?" Charlie asked once Rick reached her side, already knowing the answer.

Rick shook his head, finding it unnecessary to tell her what was inside.

The two of them went then to check the truck sitting in the driveway. There were no keys inside though.

They looked at each other in defeat before Rick noticed a horse and smiled. Charlie looked at him and then the horse, a grimace on her face.

"What, you don't like horses?" Rick asked, noticing her expression.

"Oh, I like them well enough, I just don't know how to ride one."

"Don't worry. I can do it. You won't have to do anything but hold on to me, okay?"

Charlie nodded her head, not exactly happy with the solution but knowing there was no other way.

After finding a rope, Rick walked toward the horse and coaxed it into relaxing to their presence.

"Easy now, easy. We're not gonna hurt you. Nothing like that. More like a proposal. Atlanta's just down the road ways. It's safe there. Food, shelter, people, other horses too, I bet. How's that sound?"

Rick wrapped the harness around the horse. "There we go. Good boy. Good boy. Now come with me. Come with me." He led it out of the stable.

Charlie looked at him, impressed. "Maybe I'll call you cowboy after all." Rick looked at her with a grin. She was really starting to like his grins.

Rick rode the horse down the fields. "Let's go easy, ok? I haven't done this for years." The horse started to become a little agitated but Rick was able to calm it down. He helped Charlie get on the horse too.

Once on the horse, she hugged Rick's chest tightly, still scared. She tried to ignore the pleasant sensation of having him this close and reminded herself that he was a married man who, unfortunately, still loved his wife very much.

They reached the highway without incidents and started to ride towards Atlanta.

They eventually got to the outskirts of Atlanta and they noticed that while the side they were on was devoid of cars, the other was packed with several wrecked or abandoned cars.

They continued to ride until they entered Atlanta. The city was completely abandoned and there was trash everywhere. Not a person in sight.

Rick led the horse down the street where there were helicopters, cars, and even a tank wrecked along the road.

They rode past a bus and some of the walkers saw them. They got up and started to walk toward them but Rick didn't panic. The horse started to get agitated. Charlie increased the hold she had of Rick's chest.

"Steady." Rick said, trying to calm the horse. "It's just a few. Nothing we can't outrun." Rick rode past them and down the street.

They looked at the tank and saw a dead body being pecked at by crows. Charlie grimaced in disgust. They rode still, past the tank.

They heard a noise and looked up in the air when they saw a helicopter flying past them. "Are you seeing it too?" Charlie asked in a whisper, just to be sure.

Rick nodded at her. They started to ride in the direction of the helicopter but once they turned the corner they came face to face with a horde of walkers.

All of them shuffled after them so Rick steered the horse back down the street they came from. They came across another huge group of walkers. Rick tried to get away but they were trapped.

The horse was becoming more and more agitated and the walkers were rounding on them on all sides. Rick couldn't keep hold of the rains any longer when the horse rose on its back feet and the two of them – Charlie still holding onto Rick – fell down from the horse and onto the street. She lost the backpack while trying to get away from the horse, now being devoured by walkers while Rick realized he had dropped his gun bag.

They started to shoot at walkers that were getting too close to them when Rick pointed at the tank just near them.

"Go first, I'll cover you!" Rick ordered her.

Charlie nodded, figuring this wasn't the time to protest. She crawled underneath the tank with Rick still shooting at walkers to cover her.

He followed her underneath the tank but so did the walkers.

They continued to shoot them, the desperation evident in both their faces.

"How many have you left?" Rick asked her.

"Not enough for all of them." Charlie replied, getting scared.

Her first gun was empty while the second one had only six bullets left.

She remembered how Rick got out of this situation in the TV show and said to him. "Rick! Check above your head. Check if there's a way for us to get inside the tank!" Charlie said, already knowing there was one.

Rick noticed the hatch above him and opened it. He crawled up quickly before helping her doing the same. Once the two of them were inside they shut it.

They sat down, one in front of the other, trying to calm their breath, but as soon as Charlie noticed the corpse inside she remembered about the bullet Rick used to kill him. Rick had noticed it too and he was about to shoot him when Charlie stopped him once again.

"Wait! It's not a good idea, shooting a bullet here!" Rick nodded in agreement so she came closer and kill it with her knife instead, wanting to avoid hurting her ears.

Rick decided to check outside, see if there was a way out. He crawled up to the top and opened the top hatch.

He looked outside and noticed both the bag of guns and Charlie's backpack lying on the ground, out of their reach.

The rest of the walkers started to converge on the tank to get at him so Rick shut the hatch quickly again.

Rick and Charlie looked at each other, disheartened.

"I'm sorry I've dragged you into this." Rick apologized to her.

Charlie shook her head. "I've dragged myself. Anyway, don't worry. We'll find a way out. I know we will."

"How?"

"I don't know. But we will get out of here and you will find your family again."

Rick smiled at her but he didn't look too convinced.

Just then, the radio in the tank started to make static sounds. Rick and Charlie looked at each other. A voice on the other end started talking. "Hey, you. Dumb-asses. Hey, you two in the tank. Cozy in there?"

Rick and Charlie smiled at each other, realizing they weren't alone.


	4. Chapter 2 - Escape from Atlanta

** **

** Chapter 2 **

** Escape from Atlanta **

**Nine Years Earlier – Charlie's Old World**

_Charlie looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. She didn't want to wear a dress but Amanda thought it necessary to make the right impression at school tomorrow. Her first day in middle school._

_Amanda was her neighbor, six years older than her, beautiful, rich, spoiled and about to start her last year of high school._

_When Charlie had moved in with her uncle about six months ago, Amanda had taken it upon herself to be a sort of mentor in all 'feminine' things since her only other figure in her life was her uncle, who didn't have any idea what to do with a pre-teenage girl. Not that Charlie particularly liked the idea of being 'girly'. No, she was more interested in learning how to fight and hunt like her uncle. And for good reason, though she tried not to linger upon that._

_Amanda, fortunately, didn't know why she had come to live with her uncle, nor anybody else in Macon, Georgia. As far as they all knew, both her parents were dead and if Charlie had been skittish, closed off and bruised when she first arrived, it had all been attributed to the recent loss of her parents and the bruises to the 'car accident' that had killed her parents, or, at least, that's what her uncle had told anyone who asked. Fortunately her mother's name had been left out of the press and Charlie herself had taken on her mother's surname so there was no one in her new town who had any idea what had really happened._

_She had spent the last six months at home, grieving and trying to move on, with her uncle paying for a private tutor so that she would not be behind once she would start school once again and a martial arts instructor at her request. Charlie had also tried to convince her uncle to bring her hunting with him but he was adamant that she would need to learn how to use a weapon first. He probably wanted to see how committed she was to it._

_In those six months she had little contact with anyone but her uncle and the people who worked for him, except for their neighbors. Amanda Parker was the doted-upon daughter of a rich couple who loved to flaunt their wealth and pretend to be more important than they were. Charlie didn't know why Amanda had taken such an invested interest in her but she figured it was the fact that Amanda loved projects and she liked the challenge to turn a tomboy into a pretty princess._

_Charlie wasn't very keen on the idea at first but Amanda had explained things in a practical way that Charlie could accept. Amanda simply said that if you weren't popular in school, your life wouldn't be very pleasant and for someone who had lost her parents and had spent six months isolated from her peers, Charlie didn't need to make things more difficult for herself. Amanda also said that she had a lot of potential – being very pretty and blonde – and that all she needed to do was play her part and she would breeze through middle school and then high school while doing what she loved in her spare time. Basically, be like a doll while at school and then a tomboy at home._

_It was all about appearances after all. Charlie only needed to be smart and take advantage of the situation. The fact that her uncle was rich was just a bonus._

_So, step one, wear a pretty dress at school and in general, look pretty and fashionable. Step two, join the cheerleaders' team. That was a certain way to be accepted into the 'IN' crowd._

_Charlie looked at herself one more time in the mirror, her blue dress fitting her lithe figure perfectly, her still developing curves making her look more mature than she was._

_She looked...like a girl, a very pretty one at that. Maybe Amanda was right. It was all about playing a part. And if someone tried something that they shouldn't...well, she knew how to defend herself now. She will never be the scared, helpless child that she was, incapable to do anything to help her mother, unable to protect herself. Never again._

**Present Day – Walking Dead's World**

The voice on the radio kept speaking. "Hey, are two you alive in there?"

Rick and Charlie, sitting next to each other, exchanged a look and smiled before Rick grabbed the hand-radio to answer. "Hello? Hello?"

"There you are." The man on the radio – that Charlie knew was Glenn – said. "You had me wondering." "Where are you? Outside?" Rick asked. "Can you see me right now?"

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

"There's good news?" Rick asked hopefully.

"No." Glenn replied flatly. Charlie looked at Rick with a roll of her eyes. 'Very helpful' she mouthed to him. Rick grinned at her then returned his attention to the radio.

"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here." "Oh man. You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out." "Got any advice for me?" Rick asked then, a little exasperated.

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it."

Rick looked at her confused and Charlie shrugged back. "That's it? 'Make a run for it'?"

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds." Glenn explained. "You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?"

Rick nodded. "So far."

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?"

"In that duffel bag I dropped out there, and guns. Can I get to it?" Charlie shook her head at him while at the same time Glenn said "Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option. What do you have on you?"

"Hang on." Rick looked at her and Charlie showed the number six with her hands. Rick nodded before checking the pockets of the dead soldier. He found a Beretta strapped to his belt and a grenade in his pocket. He pocketed the grenade without telling Glenn about it.

"Yeah. Yeah. I've got a Beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds. Charlie has six rounds left."

"Make 'em count." Glenn answered. "Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards. Be there." Rick was about to put the hand-radio down but then remembered to ask "Hey, what's your name?"

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time." Rick shook his head to himself before answering "Right."

Charlie got up and took the knife with one hand, the gun with the other. She gave Rick the other knife, the one strapped to her ankle. Rick thanked her before asking "Ready?"

"Not really." Charlie replied. "But what the hell..."

Rick nodded at her before opening the top of the tank. He stabbed the walker on the head with a precise movement and helped her get out.

Once both of them were out they started running, shooting every walker that got too close to them. Soon Charlie finished her rounds and started to stab as many as she could while following Rick.

The two of them rounded an alley and came face to face with Glenn. Rick stopped just in time of hitting him. Glenn raised his hands and said "Whoa! Not dead!" Then with a hand he told them to follow him. "Come on! Come on! Back here! Come on! Come on!"

The three of them started to run down the alley before Glenn started climbing up a ladder. When he noticed she and Rick weren't doing the same, he turned around and asked "What are you doing?! Come on!" Rick and Charlie followed his lead and started climbing as well.

They stopped halfway up the roof, on the ladder, panting.

Glenn turned towards them and said to Rick. "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?"

"It wasn't my intention." Rick replied calmly. Charlie felt a little insulted at being left out but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, whatever. You're still a dumbass. Both of you." He said, turning towards her. "You don't come here and...wow...who are you?" Glenn blinked towards her, seeing her for the first time up close and wondering if she was real. She looked like one of the girls from playboy. Except for the fact that she was dressed like Sarah Connor.

Charlie raised her right eyebrow at him sarcastically while answering "Charlie." Glenn blushed in embarrassment at her look.

Rick noticed the silent exchange and grinned to himself. He couldn't blame the boy, Charlie was very attractive; it was impossible not to notice. "Rick." He said to move the attention away from Charlie. "Thanks."

The boy nodded at him, still a little red in the face.

"Yeah, thanks." Charlie said then.

"Glenn. You're welcome." Then, noticing the walkers coming, they started to climb again.

Glenn looked down and with a bright, fake smile said "The bright side: It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass- half-full kind of guy." Charlie, climbing between Glenn and Rick, scoffed.

The three of them kept climbing in silence after that until they reached the roof.

"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asked, once he had regained his breath.

"Somebody did... I guess when the city got overrun." Glenn replied. "Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks would get through."

"Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for us?" Rick asked then.

Glenn shrugged. "Call it foolish, naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you."

Charlie smiled at him, finding him cute in a puppy sort of way. "Thanks, anyway. We own you one." Glenn blushed a little before turning around and starting climbing down another ladder.

Rick shook his head before smirking at Charlie, amused at Glenn's apparent crush on her.

Charlie glared at him. "Not a word."

Rick raised his hands. "I didn't say anything." He said before climbing down too. Charlie followed with a roll of her eyes.

They reached a courtyard outside of a shopping center. Glenn took a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and talked into it "I'm back. Got two guests plus four geeks in the alley." Charlie and Rick couldn't hear the answer on the other side. The three of them started walking towards a door covered by rolling shutters when two walkers blocked their way.

Before one of them could do anything, two men appeared from behind the shutters, with protective gear and baseball bats. They each went after one of the walkers and proceeded to bash their heads in with a bat. Charlie rolled her eyes once again at the unnecessary violence.

"Let's go!" Glenn ordered before starting running. Rick and Charlie followed him, making their way into the store. The two men – T-Dog and Morales if Charlie remembered correctly – followed them inside and closed the shutters once again.

Inside there were two more people – two women. One of them immediately pointed a gun against Rick's face. Andrea. "You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you." She screamed at him.

"Just chill out, Andrea. Back off." Morales said and Jacqui added, "come on, ease up."

"Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of these stupid assholes." Andrea kept screaming in Rick's face.

Charlie, standing beside Rick, rolled her eyes at her before grabbing Andrea's wrist with one hand and twisting it until she dropped her gun. Charlie immediately grabbed it and pointed it at Andrea leisurely before saying "If you intend to point a gun at someone, you should make sure the safety is off first." She mocked her before handing her the gun back.

Andrea rubbed her wrist to sooth it and glared at her, humiliated, but she took back her gun. "We're dead... All of us... Because of you." She added then.

"We're not dead yet. And we won't be." Charlie replied coldly. Screaming and pointing guns at people was useless and pointless. What exactly was she hoping to gain by behaving that way?

"I don't understand." Rick added then.

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies." Morales explained. "You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." T-Dog added. "You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea said then.

"Get the picture now?" Morales asked rhetorically.

They heard growling from behind a glass-door and noticed walkers – a lot of them – were trying to get in. Fortunately there was another shutter in front of the glass door so that, even if they managed to break the glass, there was another metallic layer to stop them from entering the store.

Charlie noticed one of the walkers had a stone in hand and was hitting the glass with it repeatedly.

Andrea noticed too because she exclaimed "Oh, God!" before turning her head away, horrified. She turned her attention towards Rick and Charlie then. "What the hell were two you doing out there anyway?"

"Trying to flag the helicopter." Rick answered calmly.

"Helicopter?" T-Dog asked disbelievingly. "Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter."

"You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things. It happens." Jacqui added a little condescendingly.

"I saw it." Rick said. "We both did." He added, turning towards Charlie. Charlie nodded, agreeing with him.

The others didn't appear convinced but let the matter go.

"Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B. Can you contact the others?" Morales said then.

"Others?" Rick asked excitedly. "The refugee center?"

Jacqui snorted at that. "Yeah, the refugee center. They've got biscuits waiting at the oven for us."

T-Dog, that in the meantime was trying to contact the others at camp, shook his head. "Got no signal. Maybe the roof."

Just in that moment from above them, on the roof, they all heard the sound of gun firing.

"Oh no. Is that Dixon?" Andrea asked rhetorically.

"What is that maniac doing?" Morales this time.

"Come on, let's go." Glenn said before running up the stairs, the others quickly following behind him.

Once on the roof, they all saw Merle Dixon shooting with a sniper rifle at the walkers down on the street.

"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!" T-Dog said angrily.

Merle laughed and ignored him, continuing shooting.

"Oh jeez." Andrea said, exasperated.

They all surrounded him, trying to make him see reason. Charlie and Rick stayed a little behind.

Merle turned to the group around him. "Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Ah! Only common sense."

"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T-Dog tried to reason with him. Merle just laughed and kept shooting.

"And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill." T-Dog continued, without results.

Merle turned towards him. "Hey! Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."

T-Dog glared at him, challenging him to continue that phrase. "'That'll be the day'? You got something you want to tell me?"

Morales tried to intervene between them, to avoid a fight. "Hey, T-Dog man, just leave it." "No." T-Dog replied, still glaring at Dixon.

"All right? It ain't worth it." Morales said to T-Dog before turning towards Merle. "Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble."

"You want to know the day?" Merle asked, ignoring Morales.

"Yeah." T-Dog replied, angry.

"I'll tell you the day, Mr. 'Yo.' It's the day I take orders from a nigger." "Mother..." T-Dog exclaimed before attacking Merle. The two started to fight.

Morales and Andrea screamed at them to stop but it didn't do any good. Merle gained the upper hand and started to beat T-Dog, ignoring the screaming of the people around him. When Merle had almost beaten T-Dog to a pulp and pointed a gun at his temple, Charlie decided that it was time for her to intervene since it seemed that nobody was about to do anything. She knew that Rick tried in the TV Show and got punched for his troubles but Charlie had a plan to avoid that.

While the others continued arguing around them, Charlie started to walk towards Merle. Rick grabbed her arm, stopping her. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me." She merely said in response before shrugging his hand off and continuing walking.

She smiled at Merle once she was close enough to him. He noticed her too and grinned at her a little creepily before leering openly at her breasts. Charlie tried not grimace in return and instead came closer still. The others had stopped arguing in the meantime and watched the scene curiously.

"It's Merle, right? I'm Charlie, nice to meet you." She smiled at him disarmingly. "Nice t' meet ya too, sugartits." He grinned at her.

Charlie stood in front of him and grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the gun gently, before saying: "Though I do appreciate big, strong men with guns, I would like for you not to kill a man in front of me, so please, lower the gun."

Merle laughed at her but did as she asked him to. "As ya want blondie. About ya an' I go somewhere private later?"

Charlie smiled at him. "Sure." She said before, without warning, punching him under the chin. Merle went down like a sack of potatoes, hitting his head on the ground and falling unconscious. "When hell freezes over." She finished then.

The others had observed the scene transfixed but Rick was the first one to regain control of his senses. He immediately proceeded to handcuffed Merle's hand to a pipe, taking the gun from him and then slapping him on the face more than once until Merle regained consciousness.

"Who the hell are you, man?! And who was that blonde bitch that hit me?" Merle asked angrily once he noticed Rick in front of him.

"That's Charlie, she told you that I believe. And I'm Officer friendly." Rick replied sarcastically back at him. "Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no niggers anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white- trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart." He exclaimed but Merle ignored his words.

"Screw you, man."

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point." Rick said back, always calmly.

"Yeah? Well, screw you twice."

"Ought to be polite to a man with a gun." Rick said, cocking Merle's gun. "Only common sense."

Merle appeared a little scared for the first time since the whole thing started. "You wouldn't. You're a cop."

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." He said, kneeling in front of Merle with a serious, almost scary expression on his face. Charlie looked at him and felt a shiver going down her spine. He looked incredibly sexy in that moment. Then she berated herself for thinking that of a married man. It wasn't right.

Rick then noticed the white powder on his nose – cocaine – and said sarcastically "Got some on your nose there."

"What are you gonna do? Arrest me?" Merle laughed but Rick ignored him. He instead started searching in his pockets before finding a small bag of cocaine. He immediately threw it over the roof, ignoring Merle's protests in the background.

"Hey! What are you doing? Man, that was my stuff! Hey! If I get loose, you'd better pray... Yeah, you hear me, you pig?! You hear me?!"

Rick turned around again, impassive. "Yeah, your voice carries."

"You're not Atlanta P.D. Where you from? Both of you." Morales asked curiously and then he turned towards Charlie completely bewildered "And how did you learn to do that?" He asked, miming the punch she had given Dixon.

"Ten years of martial arts." Charlie replied simply. The others all nodded, looking impressed. Rick grinned at her before answering Morales' question. "Up the road a ways."

"Well, officer friendly from up the road a ways, lady ninja, welcome to the big city." Morales said.

Charlie raised her eyebrow, amused. "Lady ninja? Really?"

Morales shrugged but didn't answer.

Then they all went to look at the situation under them, at all the walkers still on the street. They still needed to find a way to get out of there.

"My God, it's like Times Square down there." Andrea commented.

"How's that signal?" Morales asked T-Dog.

"Like Dixon's brain... Weak." T-Dog replied and Merle glared at him but they all ignored him.

"Keep trying." Morales said, but Andrea – always the unhelpful one – protested "Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing."

Morales ignored Andrea and turned towards Rick and Charlie, explaining. "Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream."

"Then she's right." Rick said, referring to Andrea. "We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out."

Merle snorted from behind them. "Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." Then he focused his attention on Andrea. "Ain't that right, sugar tits? Hey, honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."

Andrea looked disgustedly back at him. "I'd rather."

"And you, blonde hottie?" He said to Charlie. "I'll forgive ya punching me for a mouth service." Rick glared at Merle, clenching his fists in a effort not to punch him.

Charlie smiled at him, completely unimpressed. "I'd rather fuck a walker. Thanks for the offer though." Merle laughed, amused at her spirit. Rick grinned at Charlie, calm once again.

"The streets ain't safe. Now there's an understatement." Morales said, bringing the attention back to more important matters.

Rick turned to look at him. "What about under the streets? The sewers?"

"Oh man." Morales said to himself before turning to Glenn. "Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"

Glenn checked but he only saw more walkers. "No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are."

"Maybe not." Jacqui intervened. "Old building like this built in the '20s... Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding down in the subbasements."

"How do you know that?" Glenn asked her.

"It's my job... was. I worked in the city zoning office."

Glenn nodded before the group headed down to the basement and reached a sewer entrance. "This is it? Are you sure?" Morales asked then.

"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here." Glenn answered. "It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?" At everyone's looks on him, he huffed. "Oh. Great."

"We'll be right behind you." Andrea offered.

"No, you won't. Not you." Glenn said immediately and Charlie almost smirked at Andrea's indignant look. Andrea was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Why not me? Think I can't?"

Glenn looked hesitant at her hostile look. "I wasn't..." He seemed at a loss for words. "Speak your mind." Rick encouraged.

"Look, until now I always came here by myself..." Glenn tried to explain. "In and out, grab a few things... No problem. The first time I bring a group... Everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine... But only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one person... Not you either." He said to Rick. "Nor Charlie either. Rick, you've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass. And Charlie, you have a bow, so you should watch the doors too. And Andrea, you've got the only other gun, so you should go with them." Then he turned towards Morales. "You be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry." T-Dog was assigned to watch Dixon. Glenn finished and they all nodded at him.

"Okay, everybody knows their jobs." Rick said. Glenn started descending down the ladder, followed by Morales.

Rick, Charlie and Andrea went downstairs.

They started to look around themselves while trying to ignore the walkers banging on the doors. "Sorry for the gun in your face." Andrea apologized to Rick.

"People do things when they're afraid." Rick replied, always the peacemaker.

"Sorry for being a bitch." Charlie added. "Though I'm not sorry I took the gun out of your hands." Andrea nodded at her then added. "It wasn't entirely unjustified, what I did. You did get us into this."

Rick nodded. "If I get us out, would that make up for it?"

"No, but it'd be a start." Andrea smiled at him.

Rick smiled back and said, "Like Charlie told you, next time you should take the safety off or it won't shoot otherwise."

Andrea looked sheepish.

"Is that your gun?" Rick asked her.

"It was a gift. Why?" Andrea asked, a little defensive. Charlie had the sudden urge to tell her that if she wanted to use a gun, she needed to learn how to use it first but she kept silent.

"Little red dot means it's ready to fire." He took the gun from her hands and showed it to her before handing it back to her. "You may have occasion to use it." He finished.

Andrea nodded, pacified. "Good to know."

Rick nodded before moving around until he was standing next to Charlie, away from Andrea's earshot now.

"You should have been a politician, not a cop." Charlie teased him. "With the speeches and your capacity to calm people down with a few words. Very impressive."

Rick laughed then said, "And you should learn to use diplomacy once in a while."

Charlie smirked at him. "What can I say? I'm a passionate woman." Then realizing that what she said could be read in another way, she blushed but didn't look away from him. Rick looked at her for a few long seconds before clearing his throat and looking away, appearing a little embarrassed.

Charlie ignored the awkward moment and kept looking around as a way to pass the time, walking away from him.

A few minutes later Andrea's "Oh!" caught the attention of the other two room occupants.

They noticed she was looking at some jewelry. Rick came closer to her while Charlie kept looking warily at the glass doors which looked on the verge of shattering.

"See something you like?" Charlie heard Rick asking Andrea.

"Not me, but I know someone who would... My sister." Andrea replied. "She's still such a kid in some ways. Unicorns, dragons... She's into all that stuff. But mermaids... They rule. She loves mermaids."

"Why not take it?"

Andrea grinned. "There's a cop staring at me." Rick chuckled.

"Would it be considered looting?" Andrea asked, a little more seriously now. "I don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you?"

In that moment the walker with the stone was finally able to break the glass doors. The walkers started walking at one towards the shutters, pushing to get in. Rick moved in front of the shutters, preparing to shoot. Charlie did the same with her bow.

Just then, Glenn and Morales joined them.

"What did you find down there?" Rick immediately asked them. Morales shook his head. "Not a way out."

Andrea sighed. "We need to find a way... And soon."

They went up to the roof and observed the view around them once again. Rick spotted a construction site close to their location. He pointed it to the others and said, "that construction site, those trucks... They always keep keys on hand."

Morales shook his head. "You'll never make it past the walkers." "You got me out of that tank." Rick said towards Glenn.

Glenn nodded. "Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted."

Rick nodded before asking. "Can we distract them again?"

"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something. A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes.'" Merle commented from the background but everybody ignored him.

"I may have an idea about that." Charlie intervened, to save time. Everybody turned to her.

"What idea?" Rick asked her.

"Okay, so you know that walkers are attracted to sound, right? What you maybe don't know is that they also are attracted to us because of how we smell. Like food for us, that it smells good. In the same way, the walkers smells us and they think 'food, yummy'." She said, a little uncomfortable. The others laughed a little at the description. "So, what we need to do is to find a way to smell like them, so that we can walk around them without them noticing us."

Rick smiled at her and asked her. "And how do you think we should do that?" Charlie grimaced. "I don't think you're gonna like this."

A few minutes later T-Dog and Morales, once again dressed in protective gears, got ready to go outside to catch a walker.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold." Glenn said.

"He's right. Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through." Morales protested but Rick shook his head.

"How much time?" Rick said. "They already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever. Charlie's idea is the only one we have and it's a good one." The others nodded, not exactly convinced but too desperate to protest further.

Once the dead walker was brought inside, Rick grabbed a fire axe, dressed in trench coat like Charlie and Glenn.

Rick was preparing to start chopping but he stopped at the last moment, kneeling next to the walker and searching his pockets. He pulled out a wallet and said, "Wayne Dunlap. Georgia license. Born in 1979. He had $28 in his pocket when he died... And a picture of a pretty girl. "With love, from Rachel." He used to be like us... Worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne." Glenn looked too at the wallet and added. "One more thing... He was an organ donor."

Charlie had the sudden urge to laugh at the irony but kept silent, figuring it was not exactly the time to laugh hysterically. It was probably just the whole situation catching up to her.

After a moment of silence, Rick finally started to hack away the walker. The smell coming from the corpse and the whole image of guts out of the body grossed everyone out and they started to gag. Charlie tried to breathe with her mouth so not vomit.

Rick gave the axe to Morales, telling him to keep chopping.

"I am so gonna hurl." Glenn protested, looking green.

"Later." Rick simply said. "Everybody got gloves? Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

Charlie prepared herself, continuing breathing slowly and deeply with her mouth. She tried not to look directly at the gore that was being plastered on her covered chest.

Glenn seemed to be the one who was faring worse. "Oh God! Oh jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad."

"Think about something else... Puppies and kittens." Rick tried but then added with a grimace. "Dead puppies and kittens."

"Seriously Rick, what the fuck?" Charlie protested at the image while Glenn directly vomited.

"That is just evil. What is wrong with you?" Andrea protested but she appeared to fighting laughter. "I'm sorry." Rick said but he was laughing.

"You suck." Glenn replied, looking a little better.

"Do we smell like them?" Rick asked them.

"Oh yeah." Andrea said before handing the gun to Glenn. "Just in case."

"If we make it back, be ready." Rick said, ready to go. T-Dog called him back just before he, Charlie and Glenn were about to go out.

"What about Merle Dixon?" he asked. Rick tossed him the key for the handcuffs.

Charlie didn't know if she was supposed to warn him or not. In the end she decided to tell him, "just get him out of those cuffs as soon as you can, okay? We can't leave him there. And don't drop the key."

T-Dog nodded at her. Charlie didn't feel very reassured but she didn't know what else to do.

Once outside, the three of them started to slowly walk past the walkers, careful of every movement and every walker that got too close to them. Some looked at them seemingly a little suspiciously but kept scuffling on.

The three of them crawled under the bus Charlie and Rick saw when they first entered the town. On the other side a horde of walkers awaited them.

They continued to shuffle through the crowd without any walkers noticing that they were alive.

"It's gonna work. I can't believe it." Glenn whispered exicitedly. Charlie smiled at him but she was tense. In the TV show they made it, even with the rain. She hoped they were lucky as well now that she was there because she didn't want to get eaten.

"Don't draw attention." Rick whispered back.

In just that moment a few drops of rain started to fall. Charlie kept walking, breathing deeply to calm her nerves.

The three of them kept walking, trying not to panic. They noticed the rain was starting to wash off the guts. Fortunately they weren't really far from the construction site. The walkers near them were starting to get more aggressive, obviously smelling them.

"The smell's washing off. Isn't it? Is it washing off?" Glenn whispered, sounding panicked.

"No, it's not." Rick tried to reassure him but noticing the walkers around them more and more interested in them, he amended. "Well, maybe."

When one of them started to charge at them, Rick proceeded to crush his skull with an axe. Charlie did the same with a knife to the one next to her who was too close.

"Run!" Rick ordered. The three of them started to run down the street while killing the walkers who got too close to them. Rick with the axe, Glenn with a crowbar and Charlie with her knife.

They finally reached the fence, throwing their weapons over it before climbing over it before the walkers were able to get them. They immediately got rid of their treachcoats before Glenn searcherd for the keys to the truck. Rick pulled Merle's pistol and killed more walkers with it, Charlie helping him with her knife.

Glenn finally found the keys to the truck and threw them to Rick.

The three of them entered the truck just as some walkers started climbing over the fence and running after them. One of them reached the truck and tapped on the window on Glenn's side.

"Go go go go!" The three sped away before the walkers could catch up, Charlie sitting in the middle. "Oh my God. Oh my God. They're all over the place." Glenn exclaimed, panicked.

Rick nodded. "You need to draw them away. Those roll-up doors at the front of the store... That area? That's what I need cleared. Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."

Glenn looked at Rick like he was crazy. "And I'm drawing the geeks away how? I... I missed that part." Rick smiled. "Noise."

Rick parked next to a red sports car, getting out of the trunk and smashing the window. Immediately the car alarm started to blare. Rick hotwired the car until the engine started. He got out and Glenn took his place. Rick returned to the trunk where Charlie remained, looking at the scene from out the window in the passenger seat.

Glenn drove the sports car towards the store and Rick followed in the truck.

Glenn lured the walkers around the store closer to his car before driving away, the walkers following. Once the outside of the store was clear, Rick drove in reverse in front of the store door.

Charlie left her seat and opened the back of the truck, inciting the other survivors to get in. As soon as everyone was finally in – T-Dog the last one in – they closed the door and Rick took off once again.

Only when they were almost out of the city Charlie realized Merle's absence. "Where's Merle?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

T-Dog looked at her contrite. "I dropped the damn key."

"Shit." Charlie cursed then turned around, looking at the road, feeling guilty and dejected.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea asked, moving the attention away from the fact that they left Merle on the roof.

Just in that moment they heard the sound of Glenn's car alarm reverberating down the highway. At least someone was having fun.


	5. Chapter 3 - Daryl Dixon

**Chapter 3**

**Daryl Dixon**

Charlie kept looking at the road ahead, her thoughts centered on Merle and Daryl. She berated herself because she knew she should have done more and, now, Merle was going to saw his hand off and he would be gone by the time Daryl and Rick would come back for him.

"Best not to dwell on it." Morales said from the back of the truck. "Merle got left behind. Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back… Except maybe Daryl."

That was probably true but also not a nice thing to say. Merle wasn't exactly the poster child for good behavior but he didn't deserve this.

"Daryl?" Rick asked, curious.

"His brother." Morales answered.

"Fuck!" Charlie cursed once again. "We should have done something! He may be an ass but he didn't deserve this! And his brother didn't deserve this either!"

She noticed from the driving mirror that the others looked at each other guiltily at her words but she was the one feeling the guiltiest of all. She knew what was going to happen and she didn't do anything to stop it.

The awkward moment was interrupted by Glenn in his car. "Whoo-hoo!" They heard from beside them. Glenn sped past in his red sport car, apparently having the time of his life.

"At least somebody's having a good day." Morales commented amused.

Charlie barely smiled, her stomach churning unpleasantly with guilt.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault, okay?" Rick said from beside her, noticing her mood.

Charlie shook her head. "It was. I was the one who punched him."

"And I was the one who handcuffed him. So, if it's anyone's fault, is mine." Rick replied but Charlie shook her head.

"You don't understand. I…" She stopped but then continued, not wanting to say that she knew this was going to happen but wanting to explain why this was her fault more than everybody else's. "I just had this feeling. I somehow knew that something was gonna happen. There was this feeling of dread in my stomach…but I ignored it because I wanted to get out of there as much as anyone else. I didn't think about him handcuffed to that roof because I was thinking about myself, at the fact that I didn't wanna die…"

"And that's normal, Charlie." Rick said in response, an understanding look on his face. "We all wanted to get out of there so we ended up forgettin' about him in our rush to leave. It ain't okay, it ain't right, but it ain't your fault either."

Charlie smiled at him in response, feeling a little reassured by his words.

The rest of the drive was spent in silence. About fifteen minutes later, they drove up a hill and finally reached camp. Rick parked the truck and sighed. The others got out immediately, eager to join their loved ones.

"Come meet everybody!" Morales said to the two of them once he had left the truck before going to meet his family.

Rick didn't move and neither did Charlie.

Charlie felt sad and a little jealous, knowing that Rick was about to find his family again while she was still alone. It had been a comfort, having Rick with her, especially when it had been the two of them alone but now Charlie would have to take a step back to let him be with his family and that hurt.

Rick looked sad too but she knew that in a few moments that expression would change. She tried to be happy for him. Rick was a good man and he deserved to be reunite with his family.

"Hey, helicopter boy, ninja girl! Come say hello." They heard Morales' voice from outside.

The two of them looked at each other with a small smile before Rick got out of the truck, Charlie following close behind him.

"The guy's a cop like you." Charlie heard Morales saying to someone who had his back to them.

Rick started walking slowly while Charlie stopped closer to the truck, feeling suddenly shy at all those people's eyes on her.

Shane was the first to see Rick. He turned around and looked at him, a look of surprise on his face. Then came Carl and Lori's turn.

"Oh my god!" Rick whispered to himself, staring at his wife and son in disbelief. Carl looked at his father wide eyed, Lori not faring any better. Then suddenly, snapping out of his stupor, Carl started running towards him.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl shouted. Rick started running too.

They met halfway, Rick going to his knees to embrace his son. "Carl!" Rick said, still incredulous.

He kissed Carl on the cheek more than once then he finally got up and approached Lori who had looked at the entire scene not believing her eyes. He embraced her, spinning her around.

The others around camp stared too, a smile of surprise on all of their faces. Only Shane didn't look particularly happy though he feigned a smile when Rick looked at him.

Charlie observed the scene too, tears filling her eyes. It was a heartwarming scene and she was happy for them but, in that moment, she felt lonelier than ever.

A while later, after Charlie had been introduced to all the other members of the camp, night had fallen and they were all sitting around a fire, Rick hugging his wife and son close. Charlie had decided to sit close to Glenn, the only one beside Rick she knew a little better.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest." Rick was recounting his story since he had woken up in the hospital and met Charlie. "Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… Disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things." Dale said compassionately. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl said to his father in a small voice.

Rick lowered his gaze to look at him. "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori explained.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick replied.

"Yeah." Lori replied with a nod.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick said with a questioning tone towards Shane who replied.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick said with a grateful look towards his best friend.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale said once again before turning his attention towards Charlie. "What about you Charlie? You met Rick at the hospital, right? What about before then?"

"Well, I had just returned from my second year at Uni and then I started hearing about the strange attacks. My uncle and I left Macon as soon as we could, heading towards Atlanta but we got separated along the way. So, I ended up in the hospital at King County. And then I met Rick about two weeks later." Charlie explained but the conversation was cut short by Shane's words towards Ed Peletier.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Carol's husband and Sophia's father had just added another log to the fire where he and the rest of his family were sitting around. The fire was now rather high and would have therefore attracted any walkers in the vicinity if there had been any.

"It's cold, man." Ed complained. Charlie glared at him, a hate and disgust so profound against this man that even she was surprised. She supposed she had her reasons though. After all, for her, it was like going back ten years.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Ed said and at that point Shane got up, walking over to him. "Hey, Ed… Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" He said, glaring at him.

Ed decided to rethink his position once he was faced against a pissed-off Shane. Coward.

Ed turned to look at Carol. "Go on." He ordered. "Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Carol immediately did as she was told, risking to burning herself in the process.

"Christ." Shane said, immediately stomping the flames with his feet. Then he turned his attention towards Carol. "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?"

Carol looked meekly at him. "Fine. We're just fine."

Shane smiled gently at her. "Okay."

"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol apologized and Charlie gritted her teeth in anger. Ed should be the one apologizing, not Carol.

"No, no, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" Shane replied gently.

"Thank you." Carol said before taking Sophia and moving away from the fire.

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane then said sarcastically towards Ed before rejoining the group.

Once Shane was sitting around the fire with them, Dale began the conversation once again. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog offered. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I punched him so it should be me." Charlie protested.

Rick looked at her in protest. "I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn said from beside her. "I don't mean to bring race or gender into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

"What? You're afraid he's gonna hurt me if I'm the one who tells him?" Charlie asked Glenn with a raised eyebrow.

Glenn blushed but nodded. "Well, yeah."

Charlie glared at him. "I don't need to be protected. I thought I proved that when I knocked Merle out with a single punch."

"No one's sayin' ya need to be protected Charlie." Rick intervened. "But it'd still be better if you stay away from him. We don't know how he'll react."

Charlie glared at him, huffed but relented. "Fine."

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog added.

"We could lie." Amy – Andrea's sister – proposed.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea intervened. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." Then speaking directly to Lori, she added, "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"We'll just have to find a way to explain things to him as gently as possible. He may have lost his brother after all, he deserves some compassion and understanding for that. It's not Daryl's fault Merle was being an ass."

"I agree." Rick added. "Though I don't know how we can explain things to him in a way that he will accept."

Charlie nodded at him in agreement.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog added then.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asked, a little harshly.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." T-Dog explained further. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

Charlie already knew that but hearing it from T-Dog didn't make her feel any better. The others looked at each other, only now realizing how awful the situation really was.

A little while later, after Amy had given her a spare sleeping bag and told her she could sleep in Merle and Daryl's tent for the night, she was just about to go to bed when Rick stopped her a few steps away from Lori's tent.

"Hey!" Rick said, smiling at her.

Charlie smiled at him. "Hey! I told you, didn't I? That you would find your family!"

"You did! I still can't believe how lucky I am. I just wished you had found your family too."

Charlie shrugged her shoulders, feeling sad. "Who says I won't? If my uncle is still alive – and I'm rather sure he is – then I'll find him. And Evan…I don't know. He's not exactly cut out for this life but, somehow, I feel that if he weren't alive, I would know."

"Are you and Evan just friends or there's more to it?"

Charlie laughed at that. "I wouldn't have minded that but I'm a little too…'feminine' for his tastes."

Rick looked confused for a second but then realization set in. "Oh, that explains it."

Now it was Charlie's turn to be confused. "Explains what?"

"How a guy can be friends with you and not desire something more." Rick said like it was obvious.

Charlie blushed at that and Rick cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed himself. "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that."

Charlie shook her head. "It's okay. I take it as a compliment."

"It was." Rick said before adding, changing the subject. "I wanted to give you back this," and with that he handed her the knife she had given him when they had left the tank.

Charlie shook her head. "It's okay. You can keep it. I already have one, my uncle gave it to me."

Rick nodded, reattaching the knife on his belt. "Also, I wanted to thank you. I don't know if I would be here if it weren't for you."

"I didn't do anything Rick. You'd have survived perfectly well on your own, trust me. I just went along for the ride."

"Still, thank you. I won't forget this."

Charlie smiled at him. "I'm happy I met you." She said sincerely.

Rick smiled widely at her. "I'm happy I met you too."

"Well, it's late. Your wife will be wondering where you are. You should go back to her and your son. I'm sure they're eager to spend time with you."

Rick nodded. "Yeah, I should. Do you have somewhere you can sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm all set." Charlie said, indicating the sleeping bag in her arms. "Good night, Rick."

"Good night, Charlie."

Rick walked towards his tent, feeling a little unsettled about his conversation with Charlie and not knowing why. He joined Lori who was in front of the tent. She didn't look very happy.

"So, you met Charlie when you woke up in the hospital?" Lori asked casually, too casually.

Rick nodded. "She helped me, explained to me what was going on, showed me how to kill walkers. It's mostly thanks to her that I'm here now."

"She's very beautiful." Lori said, her voice still maddeningly casual.

"She is." Rick agreed. There was no point in deny it. "And also, very young." Then he smiled at her, amused. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"Should I be jealous?" Lori asked, eyebrow raised in challenge.

Rick laughed and kissed her sweetly. "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about."

Lori nodded reassured, and together they got inside their tent where Carl was already waiting for them.

The next morning Charlie woke up early, had breakfast that consisted of an energy bar and gummy bears that she had in her jeans' pocket and went to the quarry to wash away the grime accumulated the day before. Amy once again came through when she lent her a clean top since they had a similar size. It was a simple white tank top that was a little too tight on the front (emphazing her breasts a little too much for her taste even with the sports bra she had underneath) but since she didn't have any other clothes at the moment it'd have to do.

The size of her boobs was a curse more than a blessing most of the time. Beside the fact that she was always forced to wear a bra because they were just too heavy for comfort, they were also impossible to hide. When she ran at the park or had cheerleading practice at the football field, men would stop in the middle of whatever they were doing to stare at her chest and openly drool. Not only that would serve to make her extremely uncomfortable, it would also provoke the jealousy of some of her more vain teammates.

Moreover, people – men and women both – tended to have preconceived notions towards her just because she had big breasts. Add to that the fact that she was blonde and some people took a look at her and immediately thought: 'dumb slut'. Sure, sometimes she had fun pretending to be just that before showing them exactly how wrong they were (like what she had done with Merle) but it got tiring really quickly, having people underestimate her just because she was a young, hot, blonde girl.

About half an hour later she joined Glenn in watching Dale turn apart the sports car.

"Morning!" She said to him cheerily.

"Morning!" Glenn replied sullenly. Charlie giggled at his expression.

Rick joined them a few moments later, greeting them with a kind smile.

"Morning sheriff!" She said to him, feeling chipper that morning and not knowing why, especially after the gloomy thoughts of yesterday.

Rick smiled at her brilliantly, her good humor contagious. Then he turned towards Glenn, who still looked upset.

"Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean." He shouted to Dale.

Dale turned to him and said "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." He didn't seem very sorry.

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick said to Glenn. Charlie laughed.

Rick went to find Lori then while Charlie started to wonder around camp, not exactly sure what to do with herself.

Suddenly they heard screaming and everyone immediately went to check what was going on.

Charlie remembered that scene from the TV show very well and a shiver of excitement went down her spine. That was the moment Daryl would appear for the first time. She loved the scene in the TV show and she couldn't wait to see it – and him – in reality.

The adults reached the two kids and immediately Lori went to hug Carl while Carol took Sophia away.

Rick joined the scene soon after Lori and asked, "You're okay?"

"I've got him. I've got him." She said before asking Carl, "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?"

Carl shook his head. "No, I'm okay."

The group finally turned their attention on the walker eating the carcass of a deer. The walker – sensing people around it – turned its attention towards them. Charlie watched the scene a little away from them, knowing they could take care of it without her help. Glenn, Jim and Morales started to beat on it with the objects they had in hand and Dale finished it off by chopping its head with an axe.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale commented.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said.

Just in that moment they heard branches snapping and the sound of footsteps. Charlie came a little closer now, already knowing who was coming.

Daryl appeared out of the vegetation, looking startled at all the weapons trained on him. "Oh, Jesus!" Dale commented once he realized who he was. They all lowered their weapons at the same time.

Daryl noticed the body of the walker and the carcass of the deer and started to shout. "Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He started to kick the headless body of the walker to vent his anger.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale tried to placate him but all it did was shifting Daryl's anger towards him.

"What do you know about it, old man?" he ranted. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles." Then in a calmer voice he added, "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He walked closer to the deer and inspected the bites. "What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He pointed to the head and torso of the deer.

Charlie looked at the scene and at Daryl with a smile. He was even hotter in person, in a rough, dirty sort of way. Very different from Rick, with his shaven face, combed hair and clean clothes.

"I would not risk that." Shane replied.

Daryl sighed. "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel…" He pointed with his head to the squirrels tied to his belt. "about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

Suddenly, the walker's head started to move its teeth, coming closer to Amy and Andrea. "Oh god." Amy exclaimed, retreating a few steps and then leaving the scene with Andrea in tow.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl exclaimed before shooting the walker's head with his crossbow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?"

When he raised his head to look at the others around him, their gazes finally clashed and Charlie realized she was still smiling like an idiot. She blushed in embarrassment and looked away.

Daryl looked, both curious and confused, at the blonde, green-eyed girl with the hottest body he has ever seen. She was new, that was obvious. He would have remembered her if she had been in camp before that. In fact, he'd never have expected to see someone who looked like that except on the pages of  _Maxim_  or some other magazine like that and especially there, in a world post-apocalypse.

Not that it mattered what she looked like, of course. A chick like that didn't go for the likes of him.

He shook his head and started to walk towards camp, raising his voice to call out for his brother. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." There was no answer. Merle was probably high, lying around somewhere.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit." Shane ran after him. "I need to talk to you."

Daryl stopped and turned around. "About what?" He asked, suspicious.

Shane sighed. "About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl felt dread at his words but it didn't show on his face. "He dead?"

"We're not sure."

Daryl got angry at Shane's words. "He either is or he ain't!"

Charlie and Rick joined the two of them, though Charlie decided not speak for now.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said and Charlie closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion soon to come once Rick would actually tell him what happened.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked, turning towards Rick.

"Rick Grimes."

Daryl snorted. "Rick Grimes!? You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick said, not mincing his words.

"Hold on. Let me process this." Daryl said, feigning calm. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" His voice rose at the end of the question.

"Yeah."

At Rick's confirmation, Daryl threw the squirrels at him before attacking him but Rick shoved him off.

"Hey! Watch the knife!" T-Dog warned Rick as soon as Daryl pulled out his knife. The situation was going downhill fast. Charlie wondered what had happened to 'explaining things to Daryl in a gentle way'. That was not gentle or compassionate.

When Daryl went to attack Rick with a knife, Shane came up behind him and put him in a chokehold, arm around his neck, forcing him to kneel.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl protested.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane said, looking like he was enjoying this a little too much.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl tried to free himself but without results.

"You can file a complaint." Shane said sarcastically but Daryl didn't seem to want to calm himself anytime soon. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick knelt in front of him and said "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Daryl grunted and didn't answer so Rick asked again. "Do you think we can manage that?" Shane tightened his grip and Daryl nodded with his head as best he could.

"Mmm. Yeah." Daryl said, still struggling to breathe. Shane let him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick exclaimed calmly.

"Look, Daryl, is it?" Charlie intervened. "Rick could have explained things better, I suppose, but the fact is that your brother was shooting walkers with a rifle while on the roof, attracting more and more walkers in front of the shopping centre we were holed up. When Morales and T-Dog tried to stop him, he insulted them and started to beat T-Dog. He was high as a kite and was acting crazy. So I punched him…"

" _You_  punched him?" Daryl asked, incredulous, looking at the lithe girl in front of him.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, insulted at his tone. "Yeah, I punched him. He went down and then Rick handcuffed him. We didn't mean to leave him there. It was only supposed to be until he had calmed down enough to reason with him. But then things happened and he got left behind."

"It's not Charlie's or Rick's fault." T-Dog intervened. "I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl turned towards him. "You couldn't pick it up?"

T-Dog looked apologetic back at him. "Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl replied, his voice scratchy like he was trying to hold back tears.

"Well, maybe this will." T-Dog said. "Look, I chained the door to the roof… so the geeks couldn't get at him… with a padlock. It's gotta count for something."

Daryl turned around, his eyes suspiciously bright. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him."

"He'll show you." Lori said, pointing towards Rick. "Isn't that right?" She didn't look very happy.

Rick looked apologetically back at her. "I'm going back." Lori shook her head and walked into the RV without saying a word.

A little later, Rick got out of his tent, once again wearing his uniform. Shane followed him, trying to convince him to rethink his decision to go back to Atlanta. "So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?"

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody… Not you, Shane…Lori least of all." Rick defended himself.

"Tell her that." Shane said back.

"She knows." Rick turned towards him before starting walking once again. Shane kept following, until they were standing right in front of Daryl.

"Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So, could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl immediately defended his brother.

Shane turned towards him. "No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant." He focused his attention to Rick once again. "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked from a little away from them.

Rick turned towards Glenn then. "Oh, come on." Glenn immediately protested.

"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick said, pointing at Lori.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane asked, clearly upset.

"Four." T-Dog offered.

Daryl huffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked.

"Why you?" Daryl asked, clearly not keen on the idea.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four." Dale commented and Charlie chose that moment to intervene. "Actually, make it five!"

Rick turned towards her. "I can't ask you that."

Charlie smiled at him. "You ain't asking, I'm offering. And anyway, my backpack's still there on the streets. I want it back." Rick still looked reluctant so she added, more seriously. "Look, Merle may be a sexist, racist pig…" She ignored Daryl's "Hey!" in protest and kept going, "but he don't deserve that, nobody does. So, I'm going and that's it!"

Rick nodded at her with a smile. "Can't say no to that. Beside, I know you can defend yourself."

"It's not just five." Shane protested yet again. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick said in response.

"Right, the guns." Glenn said in realization.

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked, now interested.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before Charlie and I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when we got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked Rick, now sold to the idea.

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori protested this time.

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl added.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." Lori pleaded.

Rick sighed before explaining. "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. They helped me Lori, just as much as Charlie. It's also thanks to them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me and Charlie to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori asked, now more understanding.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked then.

"Yeah." Rick nodded.

"So? Use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap… Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth… Not even the scanners in our cars." Shane explained.

"I need that bag. Okay?" Rick pleaded with Lori.

Lori nodded reluctantly. "All right."

Rick approached Carl then. "Okay?" Carl nodded, looking sad.

Charlie looked at the scene of the three of them together for a few seconds, feeling sad once again, then she turned around to stand near the van she and Rick had left Atlanta with.

Daryl went inside the back and started pacing. Charlie looked at him, feeling guiltier than ever. She knew that going back would be for nothing but she couldn't tell Daryl that. At least Charlie knew that Merle was still alive so that was something.

"I'm sorry, Daryl. I really am. I know that going back for him doesn't erase what we did but I hope it's something." She said to him.

"You sure you can shoot with that?" He asked, ignoring her words and pointing to the bow strapped to her hip.

"Yes, I'm sure." Charlie said with a sarcastic smile, feeling a little insulted.

"Hope for your sake it's true 'cause if ya end up in trouble, I ain't saving you girl!" he merely said.

"Who says I need saving? Trust me, I can take care of myself!"

Daryl grunted in response before turning around and beeping the horn. "Come on, let's go!"

Rick was the last one to get on the truck after receiving five bullets for his python from Shane. Glenn was in the driver's seat while everyone else was in the back. They spent the drive to Atlanta in silence.

They reached the outskirts of Atlanta after about ten minutes.

"He'd better be okay." Daryl said threateningly towards everyone in general. "It's my only word on the matter."

"I told you the geeks can't get at him." T-Dog answered. "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

After that exchange of words, Glenn parked the van. "We walk from here." They all got off and started walking along the railroad tracks.

They reached a fence and Rick used the bolt cutters to cut through it. They all passed through it and then Rick asked Glenn. "Merle first or guns?"

"Merle!" Daryl immediately protested. "We ain't even having this conversation."

Rick turned serious eyes towards Daryl. "We are." Then he turned towards Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn said in response.

They all nodded and started to walk stealthily towards the department store they had left yesterday.

Once inside the store, they looked around and noticed only one walker on the ground floor. Daryl quickly took care of it with his crossbow. "Damn. You are one ugly skank." He said before pulling the arrow out. They kept going.

They went up the stairs and reached the roof. Charlie already knew what they were going to find and was afraid to look.

"Merle! Merle!" Daryl started calling out. He got closer to the pipe where Rick had handcuffed Merle and started to sob. "No! No!" He screamed.

The others all watched in silence. The handcuff was empty and there on the ground was Merle's hand.


End file.
